28 February, 2017

French Socialist and Left Party candidates fail to reach deal

Melenchon
said in a statement that with 50 days to go before the first round,
it was impossible for them to sort out some of the issues on which
they disagreed.

French
Socialist presidential candidate Benoit Hamon and Left Party
candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon have failed to agree on a possible
alliance in the upcoming presidential election, the two men indicated
Sunday.

Their
inability to reach a deal appeared to rule out any chance for the
left to reach the runoff of the two-round April-May vote and goes
against the wishes of 75,000 people who signed an online petition in
favor of the alliance.

An
Odoxa poll Sunday showed Hamon and Melenchon coming in fourth and
fifth in the first round, with about 13 percent and 12 percent
respectively. Another poll by Figaro/LCI showed both candidates with
almost similar scores.

Hamon,
the standard-bearer of the ruling Socialists, and Melenchon met
Friday evening, but could not reach an agreement, Hamon told TF1
television Sunday.

Melenchon
said in a statement that with 50 days to go before the first round,
it was impossible for them to sort out some of the issues on which
they disagreed, such as the European Union.

Melenchon
was a Socialist leader for 32 years, until he founded the Left Party
in 2008, criticizing the neoliberal turn of the Socialist Party.

However,
Hamon represents the left wing of the Socialist Party — with a
program more aligned with Melenchon's ideas than most Socialist
leaders — and surprisingly won the Socialist primaries, therefore
opening the door for a potential alliance.

Part
of the socialist leadership has announced it would break ranks with
the party and endorse independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, a
private banker who implemented neoliberal policies, including a very
contested labor reform, as the current Socialist government's economy
minister.

Macron
is seen beating far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the second round of
the election in May, the two opinion polls showed.